Legendfalls 12 - Let Loose the Legend

[janestarz]

Steering a tiny Rent-an-Aygo down a sand path with a million bumps into a forest we've known for a while now was fun. We arrived at the location early, and I dropped off NoKey and our things and went back out to Breda to pick up Bas.
Bas was glad to see me, and had less stuff than I had expected, and our 20 minute trip to the loaction was fun enough. When we arrived, I still had time to set up a tarp as a shelter, before going back out to pick up twilightbanana from the Breda train station.

After all this carpooling I was pretty tired and focused on having some tea and trying to write some for NaNoWriMo. Soon enough (one groceries trip later -- give Jayn a car and she'll be driving ALL the time) I was ready and in costume.
To my surprise, there were even more Wildlings this time around. Rob, Ilona and Ed would also be playing Wildlings and their costumes were beautiful. Lots of fur, feathers, bones and other details.

The Wildlings played a lot around the outdoor fireplace, just like last times, and we had brought a kettle to make tea this time around. Although I only brought a small tea pot, we could fill the tea egg to the brim and make three rounds of tea with the water from the kettle.
On Fridaynight I was immediately immersed in the plot because my character was snatched to the Dreamworld and spoke with the Ancient Ones, who told me that TrueStrike had to make an important decision. We discussed this with the other Wildlings too.

It was quite fun to see the group of players split into two. The Wildlings all sat around the fireplace -- drizzling rain or not -- drinking tea and telling stories. The rest of the (non-Wildling) players spent most of the evening indoors. The village was far too dark and (for some) too wet to play.
Luckily, some players came to seek us out. We had a great talk with cabaray about humani mating rituals. Very puzzling. We also told him about Wildling mating rituals and made him blush a lot. I especially liked his question whether cubs were born with Yearmates or only with Lifemates or both. (Of course the answer is: 'cubs happen')

On Saturday we had more plot, with Wildling slaves fighting themselves free, being bought free, etc. I went into the forest several times to find herbs I could plant in my garden and we ran into a military drill of a reserve company. We had also made plans after the last LF for making Wildling soup, and Koen & Irma had arranged a wild hare. Bas' Dutch Oven, our large campfire and a few other supplies and we set to work. Within five minutes, all of the Wildlings were holding a knife and cutting or cleaning vegetables. Garlic was crushed, leeks in rings, onions, a red pepper, tomatoes and potatoes, lots of herbs, salt and pepper. Soon enough the stew was on the fire, boiling softly. It was there for most of the day, the flavour strengthening with each hour.
At the end of the afternoon we sucked the last meat from the bones and left the stew boiling for a little longer. Finally, around nine or ten in the evening, it was time to eat the stew.
It was delicious.

Too bad the freed Wildling slave we had met the night before (the one we had bought from her master, who seemed like a cub) had poisoned the stew and all the Wildlings fell down like they were dead. The one who had poisoned was killed by Shadowcloud (she had said "Geeeee, I wonder how that could happen?!") and soon enough we woke up from our near-deaths, as the herb lost its power.

It was a good day. Tea, roasted chestnuts from the fire, stew, and a long Question Hour. I shared a dream with MeiLing, we collapsed an underground city and walked in the forest a lot.

Sunday was short -- I was out of bed late and dressing up always takes a while -- but the Wildlings traipsed further into the forest to visit the Druid tree we've known for years and visited on other events too. His little spot in the forest had become much more polluted, and we cleared away the trash we could, and even took a screw out of its bark with some difficulty.

At the end of the event, we were chased out of the village, and set out to find an elven fortress where we would be safe. I'm curious about next time.

All in all, this was a very good Legendfalls. Previous events had, for me, mostly been about playing a Wildling and sometimes explaining to humani the culture of the Wildlings. There wasn't much plot that affected me or I could help with. TrueStrike is a fighter and a hunter, and because there's always enough food in the village, there's no need to hunt. That is why this time I resolved to make a garden. It would give me something to do.
It's hard to write plot for Wildlings, but they did well. We had three escaped Wildling slaves that we helped (or in one extreme case, killed) and I really enjoyed finding a solution for SpringFire, the Wildling that had killed her master and needed to get away from her pursuers.

We were also very lucky to have Ork come by and take beautiful pictures at the event. You can find the pictures here!

There are already plans for next time. TrueStrike might look for someone to teach her dreamwalking, I can ask Sunshine to help with my garden, and we will make something with boar next time. Yum.

Comments

[querca-robur.livejournal.com]

I had a lot of fun playing with you all! Just goes to show how a 'let's put on a Wildling outfit for a little shoot with Ork' can get seriously out of hand. Good thing too, since I love the Wildlings and their little weird habits and I didn't feel very at home at the NPCs... I fitted in easily enough with you ^.^

Springfire safe now. Many, many thanks. If you need another hunter someday, call. You help Springfire, Springfire will help you. Otherwise, we meet at next Gathering. Springfire likes new friends, even though they talk much.


I heard rumours of the next lf being on the same date as Kederan. It'll be a difficult decision...